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  #11  
Old January 12th 09, 02:44 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
JJuggle
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Default Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)


THEY'RE AFTER ONE-WHEEL ADVENTURE
By Tim Wilkin, Albany Times Union, N.Y.
McClatchy-Tribune Regional News
12 January 2009
Times Union (MCT)

Jan. 12--ALBANY -- At first glance, the three Albany guys named Perry
Woodin, Steve Relles and Brad Statton seem like pretty normal guys (OK,
Perry's lime green, spiked hair is a little weird).

You might change your mind when you find out what the trio are going to
be doing this week. They are in Panama (along with fellow Albanian
Roland Kays and Canadian Vince Lemay) for a road race.

But this is not your average road race. They are going to ride off-road
unicycles from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific across the isthmus of
Panama, a distance of about 45 miles.

Yes, unicycles. The same sort of contraption you'd see Buttons the
Clown tooling around under the big top of your favorite circus.

"Our only goal is to have an adventure," said Statton.

"And not get eaten by any animals," said Relles.

Oh, here is the other tricky part. The path the group is taking was
once an ancient pirate and gold route and now is an obscure maze of
jungle paths.

Naturally, it would be easier to make the trip on mountain bikes or
even on foot. Riding a one-wheel cycle seems like it would be an added
burden.

"Off the wall? There is no doubt about that," Relles said. "But that's
part of the reason we are doing it. It raises eyebrows."

The group got the idea when Kris Holm, considered by those in the know
to be the Lance Armstrong of unicycling, offered up this: Propose a
doable but radical idea and the wildest one would win and get some
funding to do it.

Guess what? The Albany unicyclists won the prize.

They had to fork over a little more than $500 each to make the trip.
They left Saturday and planned to start their one-wheel journey today.

"The primary reason we wanted to do it was that it sounded like fun,"
Woodin said. "If we hit an obstacle, that is part of the fun."

The group hired someone to try to clear out some of the brush on the
trail but they expect the terrain to be tough. Getting around on a
unicycle is not the most ideal way to try to get through a jungle.

They wear helmets and wrist, knee and shin guards.

Woodin said if they were on a flat course, they could average maybe 15
miles an hour in speed but they aren't going to see any flat course.
They expect to fall, they expect to hit rocks and be chased by
alligators.

And, they expect to finish. That's all part of the fun.

The ride will be photographed by National Geographic photographer
Christian Ziegler. And the group is hoping to record their adventure
with helmet cams and a video camera. They also hope to provide updates
on their Web site: http://personalrollercoaster.wordpress.com.


--
JJuggle

Raphael Lasar - Matawan, NJ

Employee: I wont be in today, I'm in bed with general malaise.
Co-worker: And how is the General?
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  #12  
Old January 15th 09, 02:13 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
JJuggle
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Default Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)


WHEN ONE WHEEL WILL DO THE JOB
Erin Brady
16 January 2009
Daily Examiner (Grafton)

WALKING takes too long, she’s not old enough to drive and riding a bike
is just not that exciting for 12-year-old Rachel Mackey.

So when she wants to go anywhere around her home town of Grafton,
Rachel jumps on her unicycle and travels in style.

“My friends think it’s a bit weird, but that’s okay,” she said.

Rachel has been unicycling for two years and received a brand new bike
for Christmas.

“I’ve needed a new one so I could do more tricks,” Rachel said.

When she first started, Rachel said the hardest part was getting up and
moving. But now she just takes a step back then swings up onto the seat
and peddles off down the street.

“Once you’ve learnt getting up, it’s pretty easy really,” she said.

The Clarence Valley Anglican School student gets most of her
inspiration off the internet, where she found her idol, extreme
unicyclist Kris Holm.

Mr Holm has ridden some of the highest mountains in the world,
rock-hopped around lakes and ridden the Great Wall of China.

So with Kris’s style of unicycling in mind, Rachel has set herself a
goal.

“I want to try and get really good at unicycling and go to world events
one day,” she said.

Rachel can also juggle three balls on her unicycle.

“My friends think it’s a bit weird but that’s ok.”


--
JJuggle

Raphael Lasar - Matawan, NJ

Employee: I wont be in today, I'm in bed with general malaise.
Co-worker: And how is the General?
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  #13  
Old January 16th 09, 02:15 PM posted to rec.sport.unicycling
JJuggle
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Posts: 182
Default Unicycle articles (but wait there's more...)


UNICYCLIST TAKES ON A GRUELLING BIKE CHALLENGE
15 January 2009
Cape Argus

By LEILA SAMODIEN

Staff Reporter

To mountain biker Brent Bos-well, the expression “like riding a bike”
is a highly arguable one. He straddled a unicycle for the first time
almost six years ago and hopped off as quickly as he had mounted it and
shoved it into a cupboard, where it remained until a year- and-a-half
ago.

Now Boswell plans to take on the Cape Argus Pick n Pay Mountain Bike
Challenge on March 1 for the first time.

He is one of about six active unicyclists in the city. They have formed
a recreational group called Amaonetya, which takes part in cycle races
in Cape Town and surrounds.

Boswell said riding a unicycle was “more fun and more technical than a
conventional bicycle”,

Sure, he draws a vast amount of attention, but that hasn’t always been
a bad thing.

“Amaonetya wants to raise money for charity,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mountain Bike Challenge organisers are en-couraging fat tyre
fanatics to get their entries in before deadline on February 6.

To enter, visit www.mtbchal|lenge.co.za, or for more information about
Amaonetya, visit www.amaonetya.co.za.


--
JJuggle

Raphael Lasar - Matawan, NJ

Employee: I wont be in today, I'm in bed with general malaise.
Co-worker: And how is the General?
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View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148


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